Tangents

I often post little stories on my blog, usually to enter a contest or participate in blog hops like the A to Z challenge. But I realize that none of these stories would work well as is. Here’s why:1. Picture books a perfect marriage of words and illustration. When I’m writing a blog post, all the reader will have is my words, so I need to paint a picture with them. When I’m writing a picture book manuscript, I know a brilliant illustrator is going to paired with me in bring this story to life. I have to leave some room for him or her.2. Blogs are not meant to be read in one sitting and picture books have no room for filler words. When I’m writing blog posts, I need to make sure each post is clear and triggers in the mind of the reader all the relevant posts before it. In picture books, however, word and idea echoes are not allowed. For example, if THE GREAT ALPHABET DISASTER were a picture book, every page would not be assigned a specific letter, and I’d only need to say once that LMNO and P were stuck together.3. Picture books are meant for a young reader (and caring adult), but blogs are read primarily by adults. While I don’t write anything I couldn’t read to my kids, some of my more subtle humor would not belong in a picture book. For example, when H tells an “As You Know, Bob” or when the passive voice is used incessantly, I am figuratively winking to my writer audience who all understand how wrong that is.